


After the Storm

by Ninjathrowingstork



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Netflix's Daredevil, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), daredevil - Fandom
Genre: Aftermath of battle, F/M, Fluff, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Sweetness, bittersweet fluff, but not specifically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4652223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjathrowingstork/pseuds/Ninjathrowingstork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He hadn't heard from Nat in a few days, but late that night after patrol Matt was awoken by the sound of someone in his apartment before he heard her, "Don't get up, Matt. It's just me". </p><p>After some battles, even the great Natasha Romanoff needs time away from the team, and there are some nights when it's better not to be alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the Storm

It had been a long night. To be fair, most nights were long nights now, with patrolling taking up all night when he didn't need to train or sleep. Patrolling was better with her around, though. Natasha had a way of making his self-appointed vigil of Hell's Kitchen a little less grim, and end with fewer bruises and cracked ribs each week . "They were kidnappers, red. Of course we can make fun of them while they're unconscious. They look ridiculous like that. Oh, and I finally tried that café you told me about." 

She hadn't been around for the past few nights, but that was normal for her. Nat'd told him her team would be out of town for a few days on a mission somewhere in Europe. It had been nearly a week, though, and Matt would have been worried had she been anyone else but Natasha Romanoff. He was a little lonely on patrol however. Then a case landed at the firm and what time he wasn't spending on the night job was used for that. 

By the end of the week he was dead tired, and the smoke from the apartment fire down the street had leaked inside the apartment, and he knew the smell would be clinging to his suit the next day after the long night he'd had, but the suit was stored and he was finally able to hit the sack for what was left of the night. Underneath the weariness and miasma, he barely registered his roof door opening and the quiet steps of someone slipping inside. He was halfway to the bedroom door before he recognized her step and heartbeat.

"Don't get up, Matt. It's just me."

She didn't need to say it, but he appreciated it anyway.

"Natasha. It's good to see you again. Is everything ok? I can get the stuff out for you if you need it."

"The Stuff" was a blanket and the sweats she'd borrowed the first night she'd dragged him home, and the blanket she used the nights she slept on his couch after he'd been injured on patrol and she'd refused to leave him on his own and insisted he take the bed.

He heard the weary smile even before she spoke.  
"I know where it is, don't wait up for me"

He meant to wait anyway, but he was drifting off again soon as his head hit the pillow, and asleep just as the shower began to run. He only woke up when he felt her slipping into bed next to him. 

"Hey, uh, Matt, I just need to not be alone tonight, ok?"

He understood completely. The exhaustion and pain in her voice wasn't just physical. She smelled like his soap, but underneath that he could smell the lingering scents of smoke from jet fuel and wood, cordite and blood, sweat and old, damp stone. Whatever she'd been through had been far worse than his night had been. 

"Sure, Nat. I'm not going anywhere."  
And more quietly, "you're safe here."

As she drifted off curled against his side, her heartbeat and breathing settling into a deep, regular rhythm, he sleepily wondered what she'd been through to shake her like this. That could wait for tomorrow, though.

 

Tomorrow they might go to the new pizza place that just opened, and she might tell him about her week over takeout in the park. Or she might not, and they'd just eat pizza and talk about normal things and be normal people for the day.

 

That was for tomorrow, though. Tonight, all the fires were far away and under control, the monsters restrained or disposed of, and their enemies wouldn't find them here. The world could take care of itself for a few hours while they found safety and comfort in shared body heat. 

_Maybe she's not the only one who needed to not be alone tonight._

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a side-story to a current project in the works, but can be read as a standalone. Can also be read as post-AOU, but again, not necessarily. 
> 
> Title is from the Mumford and Sons song of the same title, partially because it fits, and partially because the main fic also has a M&S title.


End file.
